Starlight Saint

The day after the destruction of Kingdom Come Records, which freed her mother from their binding contract and the terror of her stalker, Starlight prepared for another round of weakening the Vice Kings’ grip on Stilwater.

As she was leaving, she overheard her parents discussing a celebratory dinner for her newfound freedom. Johnny wasn’t certain it was a good idea for her to go out in public until the Vice Kings were brought down, but Aisha insisted on it.

Starlight left them to their discussions while she went into town to look for something to do while the Saints plotted their next move.

As she was driving around the western part of the city, she spotted an elderly man walking down the sidewalk. Remembering that there was an old man on the list, she brought it out and checked it against the old man. Sure enough, they matched.

Starlight had a few plans on dealing with the witnesses and she had more freedom to deal with them compared to Wong’s list. She exited her car and approached the elderly man.

“Excuse me,” Starlight called out. “Are you Marty?”

The old man stopped on hearing his name being called and turned to face the girl. “What’s a young whippersnapper like you want with me?”

Starlight figured that the elder wasn’t about to bow out of testifying against Marcel’s friend so easily, though she preferred not to cause harm to the elderly either. She wasn’t that cruel. Instead, she figured that a little deception would probably work on him.

“I’m with a group of volunteers going around reimbursing the witnesses for an upcoming court case. Apparently, the suspect was found dead in his cell a couple of days ago so we can’t hold the trial. I have been authorized to give five hundred dollars to each witness for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

“Really?” Marty asked. “Darn shame what happened to him. Kids these days are dying younger because of all that gang violence going around. I’d hate to see you get wrapped up in that. You look like a smart girl so I doubt you’d be dumb enough to get caught up in that.” Despite the irritation from that comment, Starlight maintained her facade. She was still a tiny but tempted to bop him on the head for that comment but she ignored that feeling.

Starlight handed Marty the five hundred and the two went their separate ways.

A few minutes later, Starlight received a call from her father, informing her that they decided on the fancy restaurant, Mikano’s, for dinner tonight. “Once you finish up with what you’re doin’ meet us at the restaurant downtown,” he added.

“Got it.” Starlight hung up and considered if she should go home early. However, her phone rang again. This time it was Julius. “Yeah?”

“Starlight, looks like our next target is Sunnyvale Gardens, mine and King’s old stompin’ grounds. Some of Warren Williams’ crew are gonna be meeting to discuss getting in on the drug trade. Take those muthafuckas out.”

“Really? Sounds like it would be a bad idea to branch out with us and the Carnales competing against them.”

“All the more reason to send that message and make sure it sticks. The meeting is in an abandoned loft overlookin’ a junkyard.” The call ended.

Hearing that the target location was a loft, Starlight had an idea. She then dialed Paul’s number. The man responded after two rings. “Hey Paul, you wouldn’t happen to have a sniper rifle handy, would you?”

“There’s my dad’s old hunting rifle that he doesn’t use anymore. Why?”

“Get it and meet me at the abandoned loft in Sunnyvale. You’re about to get some target practice.”

Half an hour later, the two met near the loft. They hid in a nearby building to see what they were up against. There were a fairly large number of thugs in the junkyard while some occupied the loft. They needed to secure the loft and the high ground before they could have a chance to clear out the yard.

“Here’s the plan,” Starlight began. “You hit them high and I’ll hit them low. Clear out the loft and take up a sniping position. Cover me while I deal with the ones in the yard. The entrance faces the street.”

“Got it,” Paul affirmed before heading around the meeting area toward the loft entrance. Kicking the door open, Paul entered the building, guns blazing as his pistol proved reliable in close quarters. He ascended the stairs of the building while taking out any Vice Kings as he went until he reached the top floor.

The apartment he entered was old and decrepit and there was a massive hole in the wall that overlooked the thug-infested yard where Starlight was lurking. It was the perfect spot for sniping.

After clearing out the apartment, Paul pulled out the hunting rifle and took aim at the yellow tide below.

Starlight waited patiently for a signal for Paul, which was when she realized that she forgot to come up with a signal. However, she trusted that Paul would come up with something that would let her know to begin her attack.

A loud bang sounded from the loft that gave Starlight a clear idea that she should begin. As a thought on the side, she considered helping Paul get a proper sniper rifle that wouldn’t give away his position because there was no room for subtlety with that rifle. Since his birthday was in a few weeks, she mentally patted herself on the back for coming up with his present so soon.

The first shot and the first dead got the attention of the Vice Kings in an instant. One thug screamed “Sniper!” before everyone took cover behind the junk between them and the loft where they spotted Paul. Another was dropped before all of them were covered.

With their attention on Paul, Starlight snuck in and stealthily took out the Vice Kings from behind with her sword. There were a few who noticed Starlight, but that distracted them from Paul who took the shot and ended them.

Just as the yard was nearly cleared, several VK cars entered the yard and began shooting at Starlight who was forced to take cover. The reinforcements were taken out one by one by Paul until they decided to take cover.

With stealth no longer on the table, Starlight started using her guns to take out the Vice Kings. She saw one thug fire an RPG at Paul so she quickly grabbed the explosive in her magic and redirected it at one of the enemy cars, blowing it up along with the thugs standing next to it. She then focused on the thugs who brought RPGs while she trusted Paul to watch her back.

After a few minutes, the small warzone was filled with the bodies of yellow-wearing hoodlums while Starlight had a few scratches from bullets that grazed her. They would heal and would serve to get her to think up better strategies than the one she used today.

Paul soon returned to Starlight. He noticed her state which wasn’t surprising after having to fight an army of thugs. The only time the Rollerz were ever that numerous was when they attacked that truck yard. “Guess even you couldn’t escape that situation unscathed,” he commented.

“I got careless and should have considered the possibility of reinforcements. I won’t make that mistake twice.”

“Yeah, this reminds me of my high school prom when the punch got spiked with ecstasy. Things got wild after that. I was the only one who didn’t drink the punch and watched the show from the rafters.”

“You didn’t…” Starlight began warily.

Paul held his hands in front of him to assuage her, “No no, I just saw the guy who did it and knew what was about to happen. I wasn’t popular in high school so I couldn’t just tell them not to drink it.”

“I see, well I have a dinner to get to so we will have to call this an early day. Feel free to do whatever you want, just don’t binge drink again. Save it for after the VKs and Carnales are finished.”

While Starlight was prepared to end their operations for tonight, there was still plenty of daylight left and Paul wasn’t ready to head home. He would be restless for the rest of the night if he didn’t have his fill of fun.

He then spotted a Cavallaro parked in the nearby street and remembered that Samson wanted one. He figured that his day without Starlight would start there.

After delivering the vehicle, Paul decided to wander around the red light district until he walked past the local Tee’N’Ay where he and Starlight dealt with a VK pimp the other day.

A bouncer outside the strip joint spotted him and called out to him. “Hey, are you with the Saints?” Paul nodded. “Good, my boss, Samantha, is lookin’ for someone who isn’t affiliated with those yellow fuckers who caused trouble for her to help her recoup the losses she incurred by them. Name’s Bruno, by the way. We need someone to drive my boss’s girls around to give our high-paying clients private sessions. You game?”

Paul didn’t like the first time he had to drive girls around so they could tickle people’s fetishes and that wasn’t about to change. However, the cut he received from Helmers was still considerable. Say what you will about the slob, but he paid well. As long as they did too, he would go along with it so he nodded to the bouncer.

Bruno led Paul inside the club to discuss the details of the job. However, the bouncer had to deal with a paparazzi who was taking pictures of his boss who wore very nearly nothing. He grabbed the photographer’s camera and yanked it out of his hands and threw the guy to the floor. “No fucking cameras!”

“Please, I-I-I thought,” the paparazzi stuttered.

“You thought you could come in here and get a story, but let me tell you somethin’ that ain’t gonna happen. Now get the hell out!” Bruno then threw the photographer toward the entrance.

“You’re gonna wish you never did that, when my lawyers get through-” was all the paparazzi said before Paul punched him out.

“Nice! Thanks for saving me the trouble,” Bruno thanked.

After Paul got the details from Samantha, his dirty job began.

Meanwhile, Starlight arrived at Mikano’s restaurant where Johnny was waiting for her. It took her some time to get ready since she needed to dress for the occasion and she was glad that the money she made so far, especially the wealth she stole from William Sharp, allowed her to afford some brand name dresses and cosmetics. She was careful to disinfect and apply ointment to her shallow wounds before applying makeup because she didn’t want to end up sick the next day.

Johnny had also dressed up, though his choice in outfits was barely passable by the staff, but they weren’t about to call him on it because of his reputation. He smiled as she walked up to him. “Thanks for waiting, dad,” Starlight said.

“Hey pumpkin, I see you took your dog off the leash for a few hours.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, “He’s a friend, not a pet, dad.”

“Just jokin’ sweetie, though you gotta admit that he doesn’t do much by himself unless you tell him.”

“Hopefully he’s doing things for himself right now. It’d be disappointing if he just went home after we parted ways. Anyways, let’s find mom before she gets mad at both of us.”

A couple of hours later, Paul was getting out of the shower at home to try to feel clean again. He still felt a little dirty despite that, but he was now more restless than disgusted right now so he decided to go out and do more.

Paul was surprised when Samantha offered her services as an ally when he finished his job. Who knew the sex worker knew her way around an assault rifle. What was more shocking was that she was shameless enough to go around using it while committing indecent exposure.

Paul’s wandering led him downtown where he found a flyer requesting a driver. The location was a warehouse in Amberbrook in the Museum District. It seemed like another job for him and it would help get his mind off his impromptu lessons on kinks.

He later arrived at the warehouse and found the side entrance. He knocked on the door and it soon opened. Paul had a feeling that the guy on the other side of the door didn’t bother to check who it was which lowered his impression of him. “Come on in, bro,” he said.

Once inside, Paul noticed several tables with packages of what was most likely drugs. Seeing what he had and being so open about it made Paul wonder if the guy was an idiot, especially since he sent out fliers to advertise himself. He could only hope the guy wasn’t too stupid to live so he could receive his payment, at least.

“You here for the job?” he asked. Paul nodded. “Good, I’m Marvin. I ain't one to bullshit so
I'm gonna lay it all on the table for ya. I got the best goddamn product in Stilwater. Now see that's good, 'cause my buyers need this shit like porn stars need cock, but stealin' junkies away from other dealers has a tendency to create bad feelings, you know what I'm sayin'. You cover my ass while I'm slingin', and I'll make sure you see the green.”

Paul could only hope that this operation wouldn’t be as intense as when they helped Laura with her deliveries.

Unfortunately for Paul’s sanity, things did get intense as he found himself being chased around by what felt like the entire police force. The Vice Kings were at least as aggressive as the Rollerz were when it came to dealers like Marvin. During the route, Marvin also dropped the fact that he was on the FBI watch list like Laura was. It was déjà vu all over again and worse was the fact that he had to do this without Starlight. He swore that if he ever survived this that he would never knock Starlight’s strange powers.

However, there was a silver lining to all of this. When the FBI ended up trashing Marvin’s car, Paul took this opportunity to hijack an FBI SUV and was able to finish the route after leading Marvin through a Forgive and Forget.

The chaos caused by this incident struck fear in the Vice Kings and made them a little more hesitant to take him on in the future.

When he dropped the guy at the warehouse, Marvin had one last thing to say before they parted ways. “You did good out there, my man. Since you did right by me, I’ll throw you a little bonus to that fat stack I just gave you. I know you Saints are fuckin’ up the Vice Kings, so I’ll let you in on somethin’ interesting. That queen bitch of theirs runs a brothel in Prawn Court. Take that out and the VK will really be hurtin’.”

That was good information in Paul’s mind. This was a chance to take more territory from the Vice Kings and show Tanya that messing with the Saints was a bad idea.

Paul contemplated bringing Starlight along for this but he also considered that his friend was spending some quality time with her family and he didn’t want to butt in on that. Not to mention how invading a brothel would probably make Starlight a little uncomfortable since she was still a little too young for places like that.

After he dropped the SUV off at Samson's garage, Paul decided to call up a few of his fellow homies nearby and storm the brothel. It started with taking out a few yellow cars patrolling Prawn Court before his group of four busted in and started shooting anyone wearing yellow. Sadly, a few sex workers got caught in the crossfire while others huddled in the corner looking like they would be in need of therapy after this.

Once the brothel was secure, Paul sent a text to Julius to let him know that Prawn Court was ripe for the taking.

Several hours later, in a penthouse on Adept Way, three dark-skinned men were holding a meeting. One was muscular and wore a black t-shirt with a yellow stripe and a silver chain along with silver rings. The second was more scrawny and wore a yellow suit with a black shirt along with silver rings and chain. The third was more muscular than the second but not as much as the first. His suit was the inverse of the second’s suit.

“How much is the studio incident gonna set us back?” the third asked.

“The incident? I’m sorry. I thought some muthafuckas blew up my shit,” the second complained. “I didn’t realize it ain’t no thang.”

“How. Much,” the third repeated firmly.

“Including the loss of revenue from Aisha’s death, I’d say we’re talkin’ millions.”

“Okay. We got a few contractors that owe us. Convince them to hook us up. That takes care of the building. As for Aisha, throw together some memorial box set. People eat that shit up. That should recoup some of our losses. How’s Tanya’s side of things?”

“Grip is short, Mr. King,” the first answered.

The third, Benjamin King, frowned as he heard that, “I’m not happy, Anthony. You said she could handle it.”

“It’s not her fault, Mr. King,” the first, Anthony Green, defended. “The Saints have been fuckin’ with her.”

“You see what’s happenin’ here? The Saints took out the Rollerz and now they think they can step to us,” the second, Warren Williams, said.

“Everybody calm the fuck down,” King assuaged. “We ain’t gonna start a war every time some muthafuckas act hard. The Rollerz were just a bunch of racing junkies led around by some two bit lawyer. I let them stick around because they weren’t worth the bullets and their territory wasn’t worth taking.”

“We gotta talk about the Saints,” spoke a female voice. Said person entered the room wearing a small light gray bra top and short skirt as well as floral stockings.

“Thank you!” Warren called out.

The woman sat in Anthony’s lap while greeting the man with a sultry voice. She then turned to King. “They’ve taken Prawn Court.”

“How did this happen?” King asked.

“How the fuck you think it happened? Look, we need to get together here and just-” Warren shouted but was interrupted by King.

“What we need is for you to shut the fuck up, you feel me?”

“Yeah…” Warren mumbled.

“What?” King dangerously asked, getting out of his seat.

“Yes, Mr. King.”

King then sat back down to conclude the meeting. “I’ll have Monroe put some pressure on the Saints. While they’re distracted, it should be easy to take back what’s ours. Everything else is business as usual, understood? Now, this meeting is over.”